Blackburnian Warbler

(Setophaga fusca)

Where: Page County, VA • Big Meadows in the Shenandoah National Park

Notes: Early June in the Shenandoah is a magical time. Up there above thirty-five hundred feet, the birds are still singing like they did in the valley a few weeks ago. At that elevation some of our "winter only" species up are there for the breeding season, like the Dark-eyed Junco. Other high elevation, deciduous forest birds like the Veery, Scarlet Tanager and Chestnut-sided Warbler are common. I love the rich green lushness of the understory ferns and moss covered logs and rocks. This shot was such a treat because my actual purpose for going the Big Meadows was in hopes of photographing the newborn spotted fawns that the White-tailed Deer does bring to the meadow in the early morning hours each spring. We had circled one of the inner loop roads near the picnic grounds when I heard a strange bird call coming from the far end of the parking lot. I thought I recognized the thin and very high pitched tone of its song, but not the rhythm. My friend Paul spotted it and when he said it has a yellow-orange head; I knew it was probably a Blackburnian, since no other North American warbler has an orange throat. Most warblers have some variance in their calls, but this bird's song was really different. It was flying back and forth from tree to tree feeding on little caterpillars. Finally it flew into a short Black Locus Tree just in front of us. It would stop and call for a moment and then go back to foraging for food. (SEE: FEMALE BALCKBURNIAN WARBLER)